Reinholdt's Repository

[Reinholdt]

[Battle Creek Falls]

Presumably in order to use a lasso or talk with someone else or look around you or re-straighten the blankets or whatever while riding a horse, June has to get good enough at Qi manipulation that she doesn't even need to use her hands.

Jedrek gives June no indication at all if it has been long enough, his face the definition of manly, chiseled, and stoic.

"That was four minutes and fifty seconds," he informs her. "I was hoping you would make it five minutes before moving on, but I think it's close enough we can continue anyways." He is not the kind to quibble over seconds. "Very well done."

He stands as well, leaving the stance for the time being. "I believe the longest I held that stance was eighteen days."

[Caedem Temple]

At the foot of an overgrown temple waits an abominably beautiful fey, seated on the wings of a bird statue. He reaches into his leather jacket, pulling out a flask, and taking more than a few sips. Probably relaxing after carving his way through some of the underbrush leading to and around the temple. Normally Reinholdt would fly over such problems, but today he had guests coming to help him and wanted to make it easier for them to arrive. So he showed up early, scoped the place out and cleaned up a bit. That deserves a drink or two!

Rein told Kitty and Obriane the basics of course. He would hire them to help him handle some spooky spirits while he was on official HALO business. Well, he presumes there will be spooky spirits. Everything he's read about this place suggested it was bad news. Something he decided he'd explain in full detail once they got here! Either way, he'd pay them for their time plus appropriate hazard pay and Reinholdt has never skimped on tips.

[5a Violista]

[Battle Creek Falls]

Being able to do all those things without using her hands would be very impressive. Would probably need thousands of hours of practice to be able to do that, she assumes.

Even on the ground, June looks at his chiseled, manliness-defining face. "Oh, so close. With more practice, I should be able to get to that," she says.
And, really...eighteen days! Not just eighteen minutes or eighteen hours. How can that even be possible. Most people would die of boredom by then. Not to mention, the possibility of getting blood clots. If your muscles last that long.
"Wow." Still, incredibly impressive.

June rolls over, with a leg moving up towards her chest, then stands up by rocking back to the other leg. "Will make sure I practice to consistently get five, then."
She takes a deep breath.
"Okay, so what else?"

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

Kitsuki shows up just ahead of Obriane, all suited up for adventure. Her boots and pants are very practical, thought he crop top might have been inadvisable. She hefts a backpack on her shoulders, full of ghostbusting supplies.

"Hey Rein!" She gives him a big overhead wave as they approach. "This place is really out here, huh? How'd you even come across a place like this?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

At the foot of an overgrown temple waits an abominably beautiful fey, seated on the wings of a bird statue. He reaches into his leather jacket, pulling out a flask, and taking more than a few sips. Probably relaxing after carving his way through some of the underbrush leading to and around the temple. Normally Reinholdt would fly over such problems, but today he had guests coming to help him and wanted to make it easier for them to arrive. So he showed up early, scoped the place out and cleaned up a bit. That deserves a drink or two!

Rein told Kitty and Obriane the basics of course. He would hire them to help him handle some spooky spirits while he was on official HALO business. Well, he presumes there will be spooky spirits. Everything he's read about this place suggested it was bad news. Something he decided he'd explain in full detail once they got here! Either way, he'd pay them for their time plus appropriate hazard pay and Reinholdt has never skimped on tips.

[Caedem Temple]

Kitsuki shows up just ahead of Obriane, all suited up for adventure. Her boots and pants are very practical, thought he crop top might have been inadvisable. She hefts a backpack on her shoulders, full of ghostbusting supplies.

"Hey Rein!" She gives him a big overhead wave as they approach. "This place is really out here, huh? How'd you even come across a place like this?"

[Caedem Temple]

In Obriane's opinion this wasn't really their expertise but it laid just within the purview of her business to accept the job. That and the fact they were going to get well-paid of course.

Didn't mean she wasn't leery about the safety of this job though which probably showed.
She was showing up in full protective gear, including a helmet on her head and one that she's currently taking out of her bag. Despite carrying just as much gear as Kitty she still runs up to her fiance with the second helmet in tow. "Kitty, remember that you need to wear this while we're inside that place." She declares while presenting it.

[Reinholdt]

[Battle Creek Falls]

One would probably need qi to survive such a long time. Indeed, perhaps the very act of near self-destruction is what allowed Jedrek to get closer to understanding qi and better at manipulating it out of necessity. It is definitely not the recommended course for new students.

"Consistency is good," Jedrek nods. "First, relax your body and your mind. Free yourself of other thoughts and focus entirely on the task at hand. Then, enter the horse stance for two minutes. Exact timing is not necessary. Do not count. Focus on remaining relaxed and maintaining the pose."

[Caedem Temple]

Reinholdt takes one last quick swig before pocketing the flask again and waving back. "Hey Kitty. You're looking good," Rein comments, easily drawn to her attire for a moment before he hops down from the statue. "And Obriane. You're... prepared."

Right, she liked armor for protecting against spirits. But it's pretty sucky for other things. Well, Rein'll just have to make sure they don't need to dodge serrated arrow traps then. He raises an eyebrow at the helmet offered to Kitty, but says nothing. As far as armor goes, helmet isn't too bad. As long as it doesn't impair vision and is comfortable enough to not be distracting. "The most boring way imaginable. I read about it. I know, I know, it's shocking. But I actually do a lot of reading on my downtime. Treasure Hunting isn't all glamour and games. Ahem... not that we're here to treasure hunt per say."

[Murkus]

[Getting that Song out of your Head]

"I'll do you one better and give you a ride over there," says Fettina. She waits patiently while Carmen works up her mojo, but there might be a slight hiccup when she tries to erase those memories. Namely a similar reaction to before, when Fettina's own unknown powers repulsed Carmen. There's a flash and if Carmen doesn't pull her hand away fast, it might get a little scorched.

"...So that's a thing." Fettina wrinkles up her nose in frustration.

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

"Oh, right. Sure babe." Kitsuki takes the helmet and promptly tucks it under her arm. But back to Rein. "Reading, huh? Seems suspect, but I'll take your word for it." She grins. "So what else did ya find out about this place, bookworm?" She teases.

[5a Violista]

[Battle Creek Falls]

June is thankful that that training is something they can put off for later.

She does her best to relax. She closes her eyes...but that doesn't really help. Still can see everything around. And, what's worse, by trying to forget about everything else, that just makes it feel like there's too much around here.
Regardless, she figures this is probably good enough. The reason why she's learning this is to ignore the overstimulus that's around. To be able to not get overwhelmed by everything. Getting hung-up on the problem would prevent any progress. So, she enters the horse stance.

...There's still too much going on. The ghost, the animals around, all the plants, everything.
Normally what she does to help with this is she finds a lot of things to get distracted with, and especially something that requires a lot of movement or focus. Sure, the horse stance requires some focus, but not a lot of thought.

"There's still too much going on around here," she says, keeping her eyes closed and not moving from the stance. "Can't concentrate."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Milton Island Assault]

Damon silently stalks over and positions himself just behind and to one side of Ilpholin, folding his arms and looking decidely unimpressed at the captive demon-gnoll-lady. Kind of strange that she's here really, with all of a couple of gnolls watching over here, in this room full of-

Lots and lots of boxes. What was this, some sort of gnoll dumping ground?

Presumably the staff lies somewhere deeper within the facility, through that big ol' door over there.

So perhaps this stuff was discarded, or unsorted? The demon meant as a guard, maybe? Perhaps her summoning was incomplete?

"I doubt my intentionss would influence your actionss, Ilpholin, but if it matterss, I have no interesst in eating thiss one. It iss-" Damon pauses and looks the demon's form over with disdain, "Not to my tasstess."

[Reinholdt]

[Battle Creek Falls]

"I see." Normally he'd make June deal with it, learn through the pain. But she was a special situation, not just a mortal student. She's not talking about a wandering mind in need of honing, she's talking about actual supernatural powers keeping her distracted.

So Jedrek makes an exception for now. He'll have to ease off it later though, but for the early stages this can suffice.

Jedrek closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, exhales slowly, then punches the ground with lightning speed. It is loud and sudden. Jedrek holds this position as well, fist in the ground, eyes closed. Once June, she'll probably notice quiet. A lot of quiet. He is currently channeling his qi in waves, forming a small bubble around them both, disrupting outside influence and sounds as they crash into the bubble and bounce off rather than reaching June. Anything inside, particularly Jedrek, well nothing to be done about that.

Most tragically, he has caused them to go invisible to the ghost.

"Try again."

[Getting that Song out of your Head]

"What?!" Reinholdt instinctively steps back from the flash of light. And frowns. "Ummm..."

That was unexpected. Why is that happening now? "Perhaps... when you gave her your memories, it was considered a gift, but taking them is considered an attack?"

This is awkward. He points at Fettina, then at Carmen. "Alright. I know what to do. Turn off the angeling for a second and turn up the succubus powers." Ok, so his plan is basically try again but harder? This doesn't seem like much of a plan.

[Shadowcaller]

[Milton Island Assault]

The demon smiles widely as she seems to spot Ilpholin's gaze, seemingly recognizing it. "Oh my." She claps her claws together. "Now that was a while ago."

She sits down, crossing her legs. "Demon hunters am I right? Well, even if I could tell you anything, would you belive anything I say? Let's say that I tell you that your options of killing me is rather limited as the moment you break this circle I will go away." She taps the inner edge of the circle she's in. "You could still shoot me, or enter the circle of course but that could complicate things. Mortals and technology interact poorly with this type of magic. I can tell you right now though, you're not getting that staff. It got a mind of it's own see and it knew you were coming." The demon eyes the dead gnolls. "Too bad they didn't, eh?"

The draachi soldiers start to file down into the bunker now but they're not saying anything. Seemingly waiting for Cerabella to join them.

[Caedem Temple]

"Must be enhanced or maintained if it's really ancient. All ancient places my uncle have shown me were pretty much just rubble." Obriane comments as she turns to look at the temple once she handed off the temple. "And this is the opposite of that, just wow." She scratches the back of her head as she looks around. "This honestly feels more like a vaccation than a job." A beat. "But... wouldn't others have plundered this temple a long time ago? While it isn't in the middle of Inside, it isn't exactly hidden either."

[Reinholdt]

[Milton Island Assault]

Ilpholin nods briefly to Damon and her scowl at the demon deepens as her swords return to normal arms. They were the definition of tech. She doubts that part was a lie. "Unfortunate."

In a blur, the nymph drops into a sudden crouch, as if she was about to spring into the circle. Instead her hand slips into her boot and flicks out the silver dagger she has hidden inside, sending it hurtling pointy end first at the demon gnoll's chest where her otherwise empty heart would be. It should be harder to dodge since the confident demon chose to sit down, but even if she does, the angle of the throw means the knife won't hit the binding circle itself. In the unlikely event the demon catches it, the whole thing is made of silver, handle and all. Plus there's the second one flying in behind the first, just slightly askew so as not to be directly behind the first. One dagger from each boot.

It is easy to presume that Ilpholin relied solely on her superior technological augmentations to carry her through a fight, but that's a dangerous presumption to make.

[Caedem Temple]

Reinholdt sniffs at Kitty, feigning disdain. "Lots. Well... more about the circumstances behind its existence than anything involving the building itself. It was built by an old civilization to be their most prominent leader's resting place. One Hjordis Vidar. A notoriously cruel and expansion focused warlord. To say he mercilessly killed even the children of the countries he conquered would be favorable propaganda covering up the truths of his sordid crimes. I'll spare you some of the details, but he insisted that he be buried atop a mound of his most prominent and bitter enemies. The fanatical cult that followed him probably did much more than that." Rein glances at the temple, looking up. There was an almost oppressive aura coming from it.

Regardless, Rein motioned for Kitty and Obriane to follow him and he starts walking back into the brush around the side of the building, oddly ignoring the stairs that lead to the entrance. Along the way he addresses Obriane's concern. "Oh certainly. Well they've tried. I'm scientifically certain that the traps got them or vengeful ghosts killed them. Maaaayyybe some succeeded? But I doubt it. Anyways, the two key treasures haven't been reported found anyways and that's what we're after."

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

"Sounds like bad news." Kitsuki observes as she follows Rein. "So I take it you have a better way in than the front door? I'd bet that's where some of those would be looters had their trips cut short." She doesn't seem all that concerned herself, though.

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

Obriane on the other hand does seem concerned. "Dodging traps isn't really in our job description..." She remarks while she subconciously starts to look for trip wires and other trap triggers.
Then she realizes something. "But wouldn't all the trips have already been triggered by now?" The changeling looks to her fiancee. "Er, anyway, perhaps you should set up wards at the entrance Kitty in case we need to retreat or the spirits attempt to seal off the exit?"

[Milton Island Assault]

((Going to give Damon something to react to considering otherwise he will just wait for the outcome of Ilpholin's actions.))

The demon doesn't even attempt to dodge the thrown weapon and it hits it square in the chest.
First, her expression is one out of shock and pain even if she doesn't actually scream, but then the demon actually musters a small smile as her claws touch the area where the knife enters her.
"Feels like... freedom..." Considering that it looks like the dagger actually hit her heart, it's a miracle she even got those words out.
Perhaps it's demonic resilence, but whatever the cause the next moment she collapses and her body quickly starts to disintrigate.

[5a Violista]

[Getting That Song out of your Head]

Carmen was rather determined to make sure nobody else had any of her embarrassing memories or anything.
So that hand is scorched.
Feels a little numb.

She swallows.
"Okay. Just...give me a moment to make sure it's all good," she says, looking down at the ball of magic in her hands.

After a few moments, she feels like it's alright now.
"Okay. Succubus powers." She's not really sure how that'll help. He probably doesn't want her to use them on Tina right? To use her succubus powers on herself? If memory-weaving doesn't work, then succubus powers wouldn't work either...or maybe it's something to do with both being used at the same time? Like, overload it so that whatever she's doing would be wrapped up in countering the succubus powers instead of the memory magic? Maybe that'll work?

"Just to clarify, do you want me to use my succubus powers on myself or to use it on her while at the same time doing memory stuff?" Seems like an important distinction to make if they're trying something out. Luckily, both ways have the same preparation, by welling up elemental lust inside her so she can still prepare for either option.


[Battle Creek Falls]

It is extraordinarily unfortunate. The ghost can no longer see them, which means it can't follow the lessons anymore. It was just doing them because it was bored, anyway, so the ghost probably doesn't really care one way or another.


Oh!
Realizing it suddenly got a lot calmer after he punched the ground, June opens her eyes to see what happened. "Thanks," she says. Whatever he did, she's got to learn how to do that. It seems incredibly useful. "That helps a lot." Cutting everything down to just the immediate surroundings and also Venus, it feels like there's just a normal amount of background noise again.
She closes her eyes again.

Just as well, too: if all the sensory input ever become completely zero, then that make it just as difficult to concentrate.
With just this amount, she feels like she could focus without it becoming overwhelming.

June takes a deep breath in.
She's still in the horse stance, so she just makes sure she didn't slip out.
She slowly breathes out. "Okay." No counting, just focus solely on doing it. Just regular breathing. And ignore the heartbeat rhythm, because getting a rhythm stuck in her head feels like it would be counterproductive to staying in this position.

Thanks to the silencing-crutch she was given, June feels like she could go like this for several minutes.
Even though she wasn't counting, she does open her eyes at exactly two minutes and five seconds.

[Reinholdt]

[Caedem Temple]

"Kitty's caught on. I took a look. The entrance is a death trap. Yeah, if you're clever you can absolutely get inside from there. But I'm willing to bet worse traps waited inside for those who did. I'd bet my career that the entrance up top leads to a dead end path. With maybe a well constructed secret tunnel to deeper inside." Even that much feels unlikely. "It's super pretty though. Like really well constructed. Here, I took a pic to share with Manja some time." Rein passes over his phone, showing him posing in front of the intricately carved temple door. It's designed to look like a bird's beak swallowing up those who enter inside, with the rest of the bird being the floor and wall. A fairly stylish 3-D design. Exactly what makes it a death trap isn't readily apparent.

Reinholdt stops at a section carefully marked with pennant flag stuck in the ground, a blue cat raising a paw emblazoned as the logo. He pulls it up and tucks it away. "So, sure everything up there might have been triggered by now. At lot of the best traps reset though so I wouldn't count on that to keep you alive. Regardless, everything I could tell about this entrance is that it has been undisturbed until I found it. Look at the lines of moss and the untrampled overgrowth." Rein moves up to the wall and starts running his fingers along the cracks, looking for a hitch or latch of some kind. "So anyways, don't worry about dodging traps. Just stay behind me and don't touch things. Was it three clicks then twist?" Rein trails off.

Obriane may catch the glimpse of something dark and formless flit by at the corner of her vision, but when she turns to look the only thing of note is gently rustling leaves in the wind.

[Battle Creek Falls]

Jedrek remains in the same position he was in, fist to the ground, eyes closed. Apparently such a technique requires active channeling into the earth, which makes sense. He's using the lessons of the waterfall and making them practical!

"Good. Now relax, and stand up straight. Rub your hands together and close your eyes. Then move your palms away from and back towards each other, as if gently squeezing a ball. Visualize the qi gathering in your hands as you do this. Continue to do this until you notice an unexpected sensation." Heat, tingling, and vibrations are just some examples.

[Murkus]

[Getting That Song Out of your Head]

"Okay, I'll try to... I don't know, focus?" Fettina says. She tries to close her eyes and pull her will together. Turn down the angel-ing. Got it. Right. Easy.

She screws up her face in concentration and her mouth twists to grimace. Her wings actually seem to recede into her back, making a sound like metal under stress as they compress down to nothing. She tries to focus on what makes her Tina. What makes her a regular person. Well, as regular as you get in the Nexus.

Carmen won't get scorched if she tries... whatever she's gonna try again. But maybe there will be other side effects?

[Reinholdt]

[Getting That Song Out of your Head]

"Umm... what?" Rein asks Carmen. He didn't know there was a difference between her succubus powers and her memory powers! Though maybe he should have. He's never heard of a succubus with memory powers before. Aside from maybe making things have a dream-like quality? He isn't that versed in succubus powers to begin with.

"On her? I think? You'd know best." This is a decision for Carmen! She's the one with the powers.

Rein tries not to interrupt Fettina's focus... but the face she's making is kind of cute and he kind of wants to take a picture. The wings receding thing is new too.

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

"See, Rein's got this all figured out. We take the back door, take it slow, and it'll be a cinch. We just have to worry about our specialty." Kitsuki kneels and swings her backpack off her back. She retrieves a couple long strips of paper marked with some kind of artful, sweeping lettering that he'll be unfamiliar with. "These are simple protective talismans. They should ward off most simple hostile spirits. It should at least keep the entrance mostly clear." She waits for him to open the door so she can affix them to either side.

[Meowmai]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

Reinholdt looks at Kes like she was asking the most obvious of questions. "He looked tasty!" Rein says throwing his hands up a little, frustrated he failed to eat the whatever it was.

Oh-ho, but now Kes is flying. "Woooow. Lookit you! Go Kes! WHOOOO!" Rein cheers for her pumping his fist in the air. It was an exciting moment and even he could see the way she grinned in the air.... Cause it was coming right for him! GAH!

Oof. Ooww. This was... Rein knew Kestral had a thing for him, but he never expected she would be so forward to literally throw herself atop him. It's kind of really attractive if he was being honest.

He smirks up at her, licking his lips. "But you look even tastier..." He doesn't wait for her reply before leaning up to push his lips into hers, kissing her with a wild passion. He goes to grab her hands in his and entwine his fingers in them and if she tries to pull away will take advantage of the leverage and attempt to roll her instead, so that he was on top as he kissed her. If they end up in this position and Kes seems alright with it, Rein's passionate embrace grows, his hands starting to wander. Clothes will begin to be lost and a curtain will fall over the scene.

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

A fiercely blushing Kestrel pushes the metaphorical curtains aside, bringing the scene into view once more. Clothes had be regained it seemed. Kestrel had seen an opportunity to take Reinholdt's shirt for herself, and it looked really comfortable, but she wasn't nearly bold enough for that. With her stuff collected, the bird turned her attention to Rein, wondering if the fey might have regained his senses yet.

"Y-you got everything okay?" Kestrel asked, deliberately avoiding talking about what had just occurred for the sake of her own dignity. A bit of sudden impatience had crept into her voice. She had very much enjoyed the event that had just transpired, but she was equally impatient to get outside and try her new powers in an open area. The birdgirl was sure her initial landing mishap was only because of the confined space, surely it could not happen again!

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

Obriane feels a shiver go up her spine as she seems to glimpse of something that wasn't actually there. But then she recalls her experience, spirits tended to feed on fear so she should just try to stop being so nervous about this. Besides being in a trap-filled temple of doom, it was just a job like any other, right? Besides, Rein was an expert wasn't he? It was going to be fine.

She nods to Kitty. "Okay, good. I think I might have caught a glimpse of our first spirit though so be careful." She gestures at the helmet Kitty is holding. "But before I forget, I took the liberty to have the symbol you always use painted on that helmet when I ordered these helmets. It will protect your mind from the spirits influence." Obriane didn't actually know if it did that, Kitty was the symbol expert after all, but she knew that confidence and belief was important to spirits so the more of that she instilled the better.
Besides, the symbol looked cool and she had also incooperated their logo in its design so it would still serve as a cool helmet.

"You want one too, Rein? I brought a spare." She expected more people to work for them eventually, hence why she had ordered a dozen of them (and the helmet company had also offered nice bulk discounts). She had even ordered a few designed for people with horns (or antlers in her case).

[Reinholdt]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

Reinholdt stooped down and grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head and ending his shirtlessness. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so," He says, pulling on his jacket. He still felt a little loopy if he was honest, but things were clearing up. "You?" He asks, making sure Kes had everything she started out with. He does a quick sweep of the ruined church to make sure they didn't miss any wayward clothing.

"Umm..." Rein rubs the back of his neck a little, as if trying to decide on something more to say. He fails though and points at the only other door they haven't checked. "I guess we should go this way."

[Caedem Temple]

"Yeah, I got this. I haven't died in a temple dive since the, umm... eighteenth time. And that was long before the Nexus!" He's had a relatively spotless run since.

There's a click and the wall suddenly slides to the side with a rumble, revealing an opening further inside, as well as a decent cloud of dust. Not nearly as bad as when Rein first found the door though. He's leaving out the part where he had to change into a fresh pair of clothes before they got here. He nods to Kitty, indicating this is as good a place as any to place the wards while he himself steps into the tunnel, pulling out a powerful flashlight and lighting it up. He sweeps it around, lingering on each crack and corner.

Rein glances back at Obriane. "What? Spirits already? Hmm." He frowns. And glances at the helmet Kitty has tucked aside. "Oh... uh... I... mmm... can't. Yeah. I need myyyy ears." He really had to reach for that excuse. "Thank you though."

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

Kitsuki quirks an eyebrow at Rein. Liar. Oh well. "Alright, good thinking." She smiles at Obriane and puts the helmet on.

But now, business. Kitsuki casts her gaze around, alert for this spirit that's already lurking around. "Well let's get moving then. If we've already attracted attention sitting around is only going to make it worse."

[5a Violista]

[Battle Creek Falls]

That makes a lot of sense!
Waterfalls are noisy and are able to drown out a lot of noise. Just copy it, without the noisiness, and it's perfect.

"Okay."
She stands and tries to not move around the rest of her too much.
June obeys.
Closes her eyes, hands, palms, movement.

It helps that she can feel the way the energy is flowing with him, so June has an idea of what to look for. She's pretty sure it's not exactly what he's talking about, but she just needs to find the same feeling between her own hands.

She does it.
And still does it.
And more.
And...she can feel something? between her hands.
"I think? I have it?" she says, a little uncertain.
Indeed, there is qi gathering. It's just a little more flowing or fluid or mutable or...some other word than it ideally should be. Inconsistent. Variable. But it's definitely there!



[Getting That Song Out of your Head]

Carmen nods.
She focuses more, directing it outwards. "Just in case it works, I won't try to do anything bad." However she defines 'bad'. It's not really clear.
Carmen focuses the lust element into energy draining, to coat the memory magic like a sugar pill coating. A sugar pill coating that happens to be made out of a certain feeling.

She bites her lip.
And builds up her courage.
And, fearing being burned again (she's only got two hands! What if both of them get burned?) she tries it again.

Carmen reaches out to Fettina and tries to push the memory modification magic (coated!) into Fettina.

"...did it work?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

"Yeah, I got this. I haven't died in a temple dive since the, umm... eighteenth time. And that was long before the Nexus!" He's had a relatively spotless run since.

There's a click and the wall suddenly slides to the side with a rumble, revealing an opening further inside, as well as a decent cloud of dust. Not nearly as bad as when Rein first found the door though. He's leaving out the part where he had to change into a fresh pair of clothes before they got here. He nods to Kitty, indicating this is as good a place as any to place the wards while he himself steps into the tunnel, pulling out a powerful flashlight and lighting it up. He sweeps it around, lingering on each crack and corner.

Rein glances back at Obriane. "What? Spirits already? Hmm." He frowns. And glances at the helmet Kitty has tucked aside. "Oh... uh... I... mmm... can't. Yeah. I need myyyy ears." He really had to reach for that excuse. "Thank you though."

[Caedem Temple]

Kitsuki quirks an eyebrow at Rein. Liar. Oh well. "Alright, good thinking." She smiles at Obriane and puts the helmet on.

But now, business. Kitsuki casts her gaze around, alert for this spirit that's already lurking around. "Well let's get moving then. If we've already attracted attention sitting around is only going to make it worse."

[Caedem Temple]

"Alright, I'll just keep it on me in case you change your mind then." Obriane nods and then turns to smile back to Kitty. "But the fact that the spirits are so active might mean that their reach extend beyond just this ruin. If there is any nearby villages or settlements they might be feeding on them." A beat. "That or the adventurers that visit this place. But that must be pretty rare so they must try to get out particularly strong emotions from them... umm... we should probably be very careful, alright? Slow, steady progress. Keep up the wards and stay confident." The last thing probably wouldn't be hard for these two.

[Reinholdt]

[Caedem Temple]

"I haven't heard of any reports of anything strange happening at the nearby village. But they wisely avoid this place." Rein shines his torch back towards the foliage one last time. He suspects Obriane just saw a wild animal or something. But he can't be sure either.

He focuses back on the passage and begins to move, taking his time. "Do ghosts go after strong emotions? I always thought they were just angry or sad and destructively lash out."

The hallways they traverse are alabaster in color, underneath the yellow and brown aged dust. Notable patchwork sections of the wall are not made up of stone, but of bones, creating a checkerboard of death and dirt featuring skulls made more gruesome by their quantity than their shape. Each time they reach a corner, Rein will stop them and mark a section of stone with green chalk, an arrow pointing the way they came. "We'll be looking for stairs up if you see anything. Sooo... last I heard, you two were engaged. But I've yet to hear about an intended wedding date."

[Gullara]

[Caedum Temple]

"Depends on the spirit. Some are like that, but some are more driven. We won't really know which they are until we encounter them." Kitsuki explains. She follows along, keeping a close eye out despite talking pretty casually.

Seems Rein's not purely focused on work, though. Kitsuki chuckles. "You try to plan a wedding while running a business and raising four kids. We'll get to it."

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedum Temple]

"If they're already staying away from it means they're fearful of it, doesn't it?" Obriane points out as she cautiously follows Rein and Kitty. "Thus..." She continues while ducking under the doorway as to not bump into it with her antlers. "...um, a spirit feeding on fear, even low-key fear, wouldn't need to provoke anyone. See, greater spirits have domains which reach extremely far." Obriane makes a sweeping gesture as if to illustrate. "While they're strongest at the center of it they can actually feed anywhere within it as long as the emotion they prefer is related to them. So the classic ghost scenario is something like this. A remote location, usually a building, which people seldom visit. The spirit is just strong enough to feed off the closest settlements but is weak enough to not influence them in any noticeable way. People fear the location enough to stay away but don't feel a particular need to do anything about it. So the 'ghost' and the people living near it can continue to exist in a harmony of sort. But when people visit the center the ghost is provoked and starts to directly influence the visitors, which often results in it growing stronger. That's when we are contacted to get rid of it."

Kitty has probably heard Obriane explain this a dozen times to customers.
"But the kind of ghost you're talking about also exist, they're usually made up from the remains of a person's soul. See, spirits are less focused on emotions and more of, ah, concepts. And a ghost-type of spirit is feeding off the concept of the living person they used to be. Often, they're either what remains of someone famous or infamous in the community they're haunting. They still believe themselves to be that person and go about their way to try to convince those that are thinking about them a lot that they still exist. But once those people either die or are driven off their domain they could go after anyone. Ironically, while these spirits at the start are more about just showing themselves to people the fact that people usually react with fear to these displays make them also start to feed on fear. But as they still have parts of a person's memories they are often just confused, or as you said, angry."

She pauses, seemingly feeling that she's been talking too long as she looks quite relieved when Rein changes the subject. "Yeah, we want things like income to get more secure before we take that step. Not to mention that I'd have to get my parents there somehow and that would get complicated." She smiles sheepishly.

[Reinholdt]

[Battle Creek Falls]

"Good." Jedrek tries to keep his voice steady, but he sounds impressed. He didn't expect her to get it so quickly. She must have a natural aptitude for such exercises and manipulation. Which makes sense, if it's always running wild for her. June would have natural potential.

Best not to tell her that though, because it might go to her head and disrupt the flow.

"Now repeat that whole process a hundred times."

[Caedem Temple]

"Or they revere it," Reinholdt suggests. "Some cultures respect the dead a lot more than I do." He didn't actually learn much about the socio-cultural lifestyle of the village to tell. But Obriane's explanation was the more likely one.

Well, if there were any spirits at all to begin with. Rein only presumed there were because of how incredibly likely it was. He doubts all these people went to the afterlives peacefully. Hmm... "What if there were multiple spirits? If they're all tied to the same location and trying to feed on the same village, there wouldn't be enough to go around right? So none of them would really get strong enough to do anything." Ah-hah! That means Rein's practically immune to these fear ghosts! Perfect.

Can't blame Kitty for being too busy with kids. Manja's been a handful and she's only one! "Ah well, I understand wanting stability, but I can't recommend putting it off too long. If I've learned anything it's that bad things happen to those who waIT!" Rein's getting too distracted and with a step he suddenly pulls back, jutting out his arm around chest height to physically stop whomever is right behind him.

There's a tense moment where Rein shines his light all around, but nothing actually happens. He laughs lightly as the adrenaline spike descends. "Almost had a pool of acid drop on our heads. That'd be unpleasant. Gimme a sec."

[Murkus]

[Getting That Song Out of Your Head]

Well, Carmen doesn't get burned at least. Fettina's eyes pop open and she squints. "Um. Hm. I think so. I try to focus on your memories and all I'm getting is fuzz. But I do feel... sorta weird." Sorta hot. Like she hasn't in a while. But that can't be. She doesn't even have the parts for this kind of stuff right now. Her libido has been basically nil since she turned into... this, tuned down to a dull background noise that only becomes bothersome now and then.